Jurgen Klopp has been told to “stop complaining” about Liverpool’s fixture schedule by their former player Steve Nicol, as he is not a “special case”.
The Reds beat Chelsea on penalties in the final of the FA Cup on Saturday evening. This is the second piece of silverware they have lifted this season.
Liverpool’s focus now switches back to the Premier League as they travel to face Southampton at St Mary’s on Tuesday night.
Ahead of this game, Klopp has taken issue with the FA’s fixture scheduling. He believes it would have been fairer if Liverpool faced the Saints on Thursday instead of Tuesday.
After playing Southampton, Liverpool will prepare for their final game of the 2021/22 Premier League season which is at home against Wolves on Sunday.
Nicol – who won five league titles with Liverpool – thinks Klopp needs to “stop complaining”:
“Jurgen, your next job, take the Southampton job and then you won’t have to worry about complaining about fixtures,” Nicol told ESPN.
“Come on. Does he really want to turn round and ask the FA to help Liverpool? You’d hear every other man and his dog complaining that they’re going out of their way.
“Look, if you’re as good as they are and as successful as they are, you’re going to have a heavy schedule. So I find it a little bit… he’s saying nothing that successful teams’ managers have not been saying since I was playing in the 80s.
“It was the exact same in the 80s. You’re not a special case because you do well, you shouldn’t expect anybody to look after you, so I don’t know why you go complaining.
“And he didn’t have to. Stop complaining. I’ll tell you what, how many fans around the country, around Europe, would love to have the problem that he’s got? So, come on, don’t complain about it.”
Elsewhere, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville believe Klopp is the Premier League’s manager of the season in 2021/22:
On Klopp, Carragher said: “I think one of the biggest strengths of Jurgen Klopp – and obviously he is brilliant at everything – is his personality, his character. That ability to come back and fight. They only made one signing in the summer, Konate, a back-up centre-back. And they have played 60 games this season and lost three.”
Neville added: “Three finals. Getting close to City. I think it is undisputed. What he has done this season is absolutely exceptional. He built that great team for three or four years. I thought they were just going over the edge a bit. Decline. Not a big amount. But he has just brought them back. It is absolutely brilliant what he has done.”
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